As the HIV epidemic continues to spread worldwide, the need for an effective HIV vaccine remains urgent. A key obstacle to HIV vaccine development is the extraordinary variability of HIV and the rapidity and extent of HIV mutation (Wain-Hobson in The Evolutionary biology of Retroviruses, SSB Morse Ed. Raven Press, NY, pgs 185–209 (1994)).
Myers, Korber and colleagues have analyzed HIV sequences worldwide and divided HIV isolates into groups or clades, and provided a basis for evaluating the evolutionary relationship of individual HIV isolates to each other (Myers et al (Eds), Human Retroviruses and AIDS (1995), Published by Theoretical Biology and Biophysics Group, T-10, Mail Stop K710, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, N. Mex. 87545). The degree of variation in HIV protein regions that contain CTL and T helper epitopes has also recently been analyzed by Korber et al, and sequence variation documented in many CTL and T helper epitopes among HIV isolates (Korber et al (Eds), HIV Molecular Immunology Database (1995), Published by Theoretical Biology and Biophysics Group, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, N. Mex. 87545).
A new level of HIV variation complexity was recently reported by Hahn et al by demonstrating the frequent recombination of HIV among clades (Robinson et al, J. Mol. Evol. 40:245–259 (1995)). These authors suggest that as many as 10% of HIV isolates are mosaics of recombination, suggesting that vaccines based on only one HIV clade will not protect immunized subjects from mosaic HIV isolates (Robinson et al, J. Mol. Evol. 40:245–259 (1995)).
The present invention relates to an immunogen suitable for use in an HIV vaccine. The immunogen will induce broadly cross-reactive neutralizing antibodies in humans and neutralize a wide spectrum of HIV primary isolates.